后顾之忧 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

hòu queen, after Simplified

Original meaning: heir to the throne

Depicts a queen mother (母) giving birth to her heir (𠫓). Based on the original meaning "heir to the throne". The meaning later expanded to "ruler", "successor", and "after".

Components

母 Iconic component

mǔ mother

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 母 than it was in ancient scripts.

𠫓 Iconic component

tū, yù newborn

Depicts a child being born.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 𠫓 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Seal form — Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

垢逅诟骺詬

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

骺

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	huwX	ɢˤ(r)oʔ	sovereign; queen

說文解字

《說文》：“后，繼體君也。象人之形。施令以告四方，故厂之，从一、口。發號者，君后也。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.708-709漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

gù look back, look after Simplified

Simplified form of 顧. Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 雇 represents the sound.

Components

厄 Simplified component

è adversity, distress

Shorthand for the 雇 component in the traditional character 顧.

页 Meaning component

yè page

Depicts a head.

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode

zhī [attributive particle]

Original meaning: go forwards

Pictograph of a foot (止) going out of an area. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

止 Sound Iconic component

zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 止 than it was in ancient scripts.

一 Iconic component

yī one

Used here to depict an area.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

志寺芝

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyi	tə	go to
	tsyi	tə	(3p object pronoun; attributive particle)

說文解字

《說文》：“之，出也。象艸過屮，枝莖益大有所之。一者，地也。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.498-499漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

yōu sad Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 尤 represents the sound. Simplified form of 憂.

Components

忄 Meaning component

xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

尤 Sound component

yóu especially

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	ɢʷɯs

說文解字

《說文》：“忧，不動也。从心，尤聲。讀若祐。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

behind Traditional

Depicts someone's foot (夂) being held back by a rope (幺), preventing them from being able to walk (彳) forward.

Components

彳 Meaning component

chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

幺 Iconic component

yāo tiny

Depicts a rope.

夂 Iconic component

zhǐ, zhōng go

夂 is a component form of 止.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	huwX	[ɢ]ˤ(r)oʔ	after
	huwH	[ɢ]ˤ(r)oʔ-s	put after ?

說文解字

《說文》：“後，遲也。从彳幺夊者，後也。，古文後从辵。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

gù look back, look after Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 頁 represents the meaning and 雇 represents the sound.

Components

雇 Sound component

gù employ

頁 Meaning component

yè (head), page

Depicts a head.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kuH	[k]ʷˤaʔ-s (~ *[k]ʷˤaʔ)	look around

說文解字

《說文》：“顧，還視也。从頁，雇聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

yōu sad Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 心 represents the meaning and 夔 represents the sound.

Components

夔 Sound component

kuí one-legged monster

Change in sound

憂 and 夔 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
憂 *ʔ(r)u
夔 *ɡrul

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 夔 than it was in ancient scripts.

心 Meaning component

xīn, xin heart

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

擾懮優

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'juw	ʔ(r)u	grief, grieved

說文解字

《說文》：“憂，和之行也。从夊，聲。《詩》曰：‘布政憂憂。’”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.793-794
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

后 hòu queen, after Simplified

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

顾 gù look back, look after Simplified

Components

Sources

之 zhī [attributive particle]

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

忧 yōu sad Simplified

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

後 behind Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

顧 gù look back, look after Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

憂 yōu sad Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (2 of 3 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

hòu queen, after Simplified

gù look back, look after Simplified

zhī [attributive particle]

yōu sad Simplified

behind Traditional

gù look back, look after Traditional

yōu sad Traditional